


Tender touches soothe my soul

by Menatiera



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: '40s, (blood warning because steve accidentally cuts himself), Bucky takes care of Steve, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Intimacy, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Pre-War, Shaving, Slice of Life, Straight Razors, and steve lets him which is still a miracle, cw: blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22239841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menatiera/pseuds/Menatiera
Summary: Bucky couldn’t hide the fond smile that overtook his face as he lightly punched his best friend’s - his best guy’s - his lover’s shoulder. “Fuck off and be grateful. I just offered to teach you how to shave.”“I can shave,” Steve protested, crossing his arms in front of him and pouting again.“Shave properly,” Bucky corrected, “which you don’t know how, apparently.”
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 12
Kudos: 84





	Tender touches soothe my soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [charleybradburies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charleybradburies/gifts).



> So this is a fic written for [charleybradburies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charleybradburies) (or [bisexualgendryas](https://bisexualgendryas.tumblr.com/) on tumblr), who requested a pre-war Stucky, slice of life, domestic fluff story. I hope this is something like you had in mind! I know you would've been fine with smut, but the boys urged me to let them have some tender moments without it leading to the bedroom, so I hope you don't mind me stick to the initial request :) 
> 
> Huge thank you to [Huntress79](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79) and [DWHPJSherlocked (Navinabinari)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DWHPJSherlocked) for swift and effective betawork! You made this story so much better with your suggestions, I am grateful for the amazing help!

“That’s not how you do it,” Bucky said. He wouldn’t really want to - he wasn’t in the habit of criticizing people - but with Steve it was different. With Stevie, when they were alone in their shared home, it wasn’t criticism. It was a form of love and trust, to be able to speak up about anything.

Still, Steve flinched at the sudden voice, maybe partially because it came from his right side where Bucky rarely stood, and the blade slipped. A spot of blood began to color the shaving cream.

“Jerk,” Steve said without any heat.

“A jerk who knows how to shave, as opposed to you,” Bucky pointed out innocently. 

Steve pouted. “Leave me hanging, then. It worked just fine until you interrupted.”

Bucky sighed. Sure, Steve knew that Bucky spoke up because Bucky wanted to help, that was clear to both of them. But it was one thing to know, and another to  _ accept _ said help. And since it was Steve, that part didn’t come too easily. 

“C’mere, punk,” Bucky called, and held out his hand. Steve gave a last glance at himself in the mirror, put the blade down and took the two steps that separated them. Bucky closed him into an embrace immediately.

“Buck, be careful,” Steve whined, pulling his soaped face back, “don’t wanna mess up your shirt.”

Bucky grinned and leaned down, nuzzling at his cheek and collecting a bit of soap on the tip of his nose by doing so.

“You’re hopeless,” Steve laughed, pushing himself away. “Absolutely terrible.”

“And yet you love me.”

“I often wonder why.”

“Let me teach you how to do it,” Bucky said instead of answering. Steve gave him a puzzled look.

“Teach me why I love you? Sounds stupid, even from you.”

Bucky couldn’t hide the fond smile that overtook his face as he lightly punched his best friend’s - his best guy’s - his lover’s shoulder. “Fuck off and be grateful. I just offered to teach you how to shave.”

“I can shave,” Steve protested, crossing his arms in front of him and pouting again.

“Shave  _ properly,” _ Bucky corrected, “which you don’t know how, apparently.”

*

They ended up in the tiny bathroom. Well, it was generous to call it a room - it was more like a hole in the wall and just enough space to step in. But it was theirs, so it was okay. Bucky put a kettle on in the kitchen to have some hot water.

Then he grabbed Steve in the neck and pushed his face into the washbasin. 

“Grblrgh,” Steve said, offended and flailing.

Bucky let him up, grinning. “You deserved that and you know it.”

Steve spit out some water. “Asshole!” He threw the towel at Bucky, but his eyes were laughing, and Bucky knew him enough to notice. Steve was all false bravado and semi-fake confidence when facing the world, but the world usually laughed at him and made fun of him for it. Bucky knew better than to do that. He treated Steve as an equal, despite the size, the ailments, and the health problems.

When he did, he laughed  _ with  _ Steve, and not  _ at  _ Steve, and he never treated his friend and later lover as if he were any less than others.

Bucky was probably the only one in the world who didn’t try to save Steve from himself, and that had been the cornerstone of their friendship from the get go. Bucky was there to help when Steve inevitably got himself in trouble, but gave up long ago to try to stop him. He knew that Steve would run headlong into the fire, always, no matter what anyone said. He also knew that he’d be right on Steve’s heels, following him into said fire, because Bucky was no less stubborn than his best guy, and no less crazy when it came to Steve.

“Let’s wash all the soap down,” Bucky advised, handing over the towel, and if his voice got more affectionate than before, none of them commented. “And then I’ll show you how it’s done.”

*

Bucky loved the ritual of shaving. It was one of the few things he had learned from his father - his dad was usually too busy driving around to fulfill deadlines than to be at home with his kids at reasonable hours, because the family needed a living. Bucky’s dad being obsessed with working was one of the reasons why the Barnes family was relatively well-adjusted despite the terrible conditions around them. Many people lost their jobs, but things still needed to be delivered, by stores, by people, by everyone, and Bucky’s dad had the vehicle and the willingness to deliver them.

Bucky didn’t have many fond memories of his father, but learning to shave definitely was one of them. 

And Steve didn’t have such an experience. Bucky could imagine Ms. Sarah trying to teach her son how to shave, but since she didn’t need to master this artform, she wouldn’t be able to do justice to the task, despite her general amazingness.

But it was okay. Steve and Bucky were together now, and Bucky could teach Steve.

Bucky loved that thought, that scene in his head, and was determined to do justice to it.

*

“We gotta soften your face first,” Bucky explained, tapping on Steve’s cheeks with a hot wet towel. His movements were gentle - not careful, but soft instead. He made Steve sit down and lean back in the kitchen chair because the bathroom wasn’t big enough for the two of them; and Steve was already slumping down a bit more under Bucky’s ministrations.

Bucky smiled. “You can do this by having a warm shower, too, but the hot towel is enough when you don’t have the time.”

He remembered his dad explaining, too, but right now Bucky didn’t want to dwell on the memories, no matter how soft they had been. He wanted to focus on Steve instead.

“Mm-hm,” Steve agreed, and tilted his face up a bit more. 

Bucky pecked a few small kisses on his lover’s jawline, then went on. “When we’ll have some oil you should also oil up your face. That helps with the shaving, too, makes it more comfortable for your skin. But right now we’ll skip right to the shaving soap.”

Steve opened an eye and watched as Bucky got the soap ready, turning it into a frothy mass, and then dipping the brush into it. 

“Relax,” Bucky whispered, leaning close again as he started to slather the creamy soap on Steve’s face. He didn’t hurry - long, languid strokes did the trick. It wasn’t much different than if he’d run his fingers on Steve’s skin while they were getting intimate, and Steve always loved these kind of gentle touches. Apparently now as well, if the way he slumped down even more as the tension was leaving his body was any indicator. Bucky used his free hand to run fingers through Steve’s hair. “That’s right, sweetheart, you’re doing good.”

Even though he didn’t hurry, it felt too soon that he was done with applying the soap. Bucky would have loved not to stop, to just keep smearing foam on Steve’s skin until the end of the world, but this wasn’t about him. This was about giving the full experience to Steve now. So he picked up the razor.

“The trick is the right angle,” he continued softly, his voice just a touch above a whisper. “If your hold’s too flat it’ll tear the stubble, but if it’s too steep it’ll cut the skin.” Bucky’s stomach clenched as he held the blade to Steve’s face, with him never having practiced shaving others before. It was sharp, such that even Steve knew to be careful, and for a moment Bucky felt the terror upon imagining cutting Steve. It was a vivid image in his mind, the red spotting the white soap, like he had witnessed earlier but much more stark. But the worst part wasn’t the blood. It was the curve of Steve’s shoulders tensed with unease and the betrayed expression in his wide open eyes.

“Buck?” Steve asked, his voice pulling Bucky back from the painful image. 

Bucky blinked a few times, focusing on reality where Steve had gently put his hand on Bucky’s, and where he looked up at him worried and open, not upset or betrayed. Bucky wanted to keep that expression. Instead of more anxiety to spring upon the thought, he felt the knots ease in his stomach. This was Steve - his Stevie - and Bucky was always at his best when it came to Steve. Not because it was necessary, but because he wanted to be, he was inspired to be his best self.

People never seemed to understand that, but people weren’t here now. It was their own moment, just the two of them.

Bucky smiled. His hands were steady. “Yeah, sorry.” He turned Steve’s head to the side, put the blade on the skin on the top of the cheek near the ear, and stroked downward. Steve closed his eyes again at the end of the movement, when Bucky lifted the razor, and aimed his chin even more upwards. Steve’s hands were resting on his stomach. No twitching, no picking on the hem of his slacks, and no grabbing on anything. 

Even though Bucky had literally held a blade to Steve’s throat, Steve wasn’t nervous at all. If anything, he seemed more relaxed than he had been for weeks now.

“Short and even strokes, without jerks or chopping,” Bucky echoed his dad’s words. He stopped after every stroke, rinsing the blade in warm water, then returned to the next pull. He stayed fully focused on Steve, so he couldn’t not notice how relaxed Steve got by the end, his breaths deep and even, his chin up but body boneless.

Bucky made sure to explain everything he did - that he used the middle of the blade for the chin, that one should never start a fresh stroke on a prominent part of the face, and how to follow the different directions the hair grew in different parts of the face. It was… nice, to talk. Nowadays, Bucky did shave himself on pure muscle memory, so it was refreshing having to comment every step he did. It kept his thoughts from wandering, helped him to stay grounded in the moment with his best guy.

He was clueless as to how much time had passed by the time he finished and stopped to just  _ stare  _ because he had to.

Steve, with pink, clean-shaven cheeks. Steve, with light reflecting on his blond hair. Steve, with lashes so long, girls envied him for it. Steve, with lips slightly parted as he rested. Just… Steve, as he was.

“Gosh Stevie, you’re so pretty like this,” Bucky ground out, without thinking. Steve opened his eyes, and he smiled like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. He looked angelic and mysterious, even though Bucky knew that he decidedly was neither.

Steve hummed, blinking, and visibly gathered himself. “ ‘T felt nice.” He started to lean forward, but Bucky’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Steve’s brows furrowed. “Uhm, it’s my turn with the dishes?”

“Stay where you are, Stevie. We’re not done yet.”

“We aren’t?” Steve seemed even more confused as Bucky gently pushed him back into his previous position.

“Not nearly,” he reassured. “You were doing great, sweetheart, keep doing that.”

Steve didn’t close his eyes again. Instead, he watched Bucky reaching for the water bowls. “Incoming,” Bucky warned Steve, and his lover instantly stiffened - then relaxed, when it was only warm water that he felt on his face.

Bucky was careful to hand-pour water without getting it to his eyes. “Nicely done, Stevie,” he praised again - and Steve’s posture melted back into pliant even just by these words. Steve not only enjoyed praise, but also needed it like a lifeline, Bucky had noticed a long time ago. “You’re doing so great for me.”

Bucky switched to the other bowl and repeated the treatment, this time with cold water. Steve winced and grimaced at first, and Bucky quickly gathered his face between his palms. “Shh, it’s okay. It helps your skin, I promise. You’ll feel better later because of it.”

He smoothed his palms on the sensitive skin, and Steve sighed, his lips again parting involuntarily at the touch. Bucky smiled and quickly pecked a small kiss on the lower lip, but pulled away before Steve could follow up with a proper one.

“Ah-ah,” Bucky tutted. “Let me finish this first.” 

Both warm and cold water done, he reached for the aftershave lotion, and poured a bit into his palm.

“This’ll soothe the raw skin,” he promised, patting Steve’s face and leaving white prints on it before starting to gently massage the cream into the skin with circling motions.

“Feels so good,” Steve moaned between two strokes while Bucky poured some more lotion into his palm. 

Bucky smiled. “Yeah?”

Technically the second round wasn’t necessary, but - he liked it. Liked the way Steve melted under his touches and the way he could almost see his skin being relieved from the shaving. Liked the way Steve so obviously enjoyed the treatment - and the knowledge that he was giving this to his lover before anyone else could do it before him. 

He liked the knowledge that he could teach Steve something that he’d use for the rest of his life, that Bucky would be with him in some way or another whenever Steve picked up a razor ever again.

Steve hummed, his eyes closed and body relaxed, and Bucky hesitantly put a palm on his chest. Steve didn’t flinch, and Bucky felt the steady heartbeat under his skin. Sometimes he could sense Steve’s palpitations like this, but not now. Right now, Steve’s heartbeat was strong and steady, with no error in its rhythm, and Bucky loved that, too.

Steve’s hand snuck up and covered Bucky’s.

“Don’t go,” he murmured. “Promise me, Buck. Don’t go away.”

Bucky ducked his head to hide his rising blush, though Steve’s eyes were blind to it.

Bucky’s throat tightened. “Pretty sure it’s the other way ‘round, pal. If either of us ever go where the other can’t follow, that’ll be you.”

“I won’t,” Steve promised. “You’re always at my heels anyways.”

“Damn right I am,” Bucky agreed.

Steve intertwined their fingers and lifted their hands to his lips, planting a firm, sure kiss on the middle of Bucky’s palm, despite the lotion.

“Together,” Steve promised.

“Together,” Bucky echoed, smiling fondly. “Till the end of the line.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this story, please leave kudos and comments, also feel free to visit me in [my tumblr corner](https://menatiera.tumblr.com/) anytime. :)


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